Instead of
educating their builders about the possibility of fabricating debris on some
poor quality tempered glass surfaces, and telling builders it's impossible for
the window cleaner to warrant the surface quality of tempered glass,
some window cleaners sort of
skirt the issue by first finding scratches on a new building,
showing them to the customer, and getting the customer to sign a waiver saying
they are not responsible for any scratches.
I
believe I may have ran across two windows (on the same job) several years ago
that probably had fabricating debris. Looking back now the scratch
pattern was such that I am almost positive it was. Location of windows and job
etc. it was no problem.
They say they always check all the windows, and you can always find a scratch, so they can get a waiver signed without ever having to explain fabricating
debris issues.
At
the present time I do not do CCU. In years past I have done a considerable
amount.I have never had a problem with scratches or been accused of it.
Before accepting a CCU job I would check the windows until I found a few
scratches. I would then show the existing scratches to to builder and/or owner
and have a waiver signed that I would not be liable for ANY damage to
glass.
It
is not necessary to check all the windows, just enough to show there are
existing scratches.
I guess that is working for some individuals who
aren't running into much fabricating debris in their area, and don't really expect much damage if
and when they do run into it. And I guess they have builders who will sign a
waiver when shown one scratch. (These builders apparently don't complicate
matters by asking for a complete inventory of
a complete inventory of all pre-existing scratches that were found
when the window cleaner thoroughly inspected all of the
windows.)
Again, it is not necessary to thoroughly
inspect all of the windows nor would I tell a contractor it was a complete
inventory of all scratches on the windows. Just enough to show that there are
some scratches on the glass. Where you find some, there is bound to be
more.
The problem
is that nobody gets much of an education on this issue,
and I kinda think they - builder and window
cleaner - will be shocked the first time a house full of itchy tempered glass
gets scratched.
The
window cleaner also needs a confidant attitude (not a "I think I may have
scratched some glass") If you show any weakness you can get blamed. Know what
you are doing and show it by your attitude.
If the stakes are high enough - let's say $25,000
to replace all the windows;
I
like to think that window cleaners are smart enough to quit and find out why
if they see a large problem developing.
A- The builder and their attorney are going to start looking for a way
out of the waiver they signed. The builder
remembers that the window cleaner had to search high W and low
to find a pre-existing scratch on one of the upstairs windows. Now there are scratches everywhere you look,
and the window cleaner is still
claiming they were ALL already scratched.
With the waiver and a confidant attitude on the part of
the window cleaner there should be no doubt they were scratched by other than
window cleaner.
B - The window cleaner and their
attorney will finally start considering ways to get the builder up to speed on
fabricating debris.
And this should be
done.
I understand why people are reluctant to start
believing fabricating debris is real, and I
suppose nobody can
hold that against them in court - you
can't believe everything you read on the Internet.
But whether
they believe it or not, fabricating debris is real. One day the
window cleaner who regularly only points out one or two pre-existing
scratches in order to get a waiver signed will have to deal with
a houseful of fabricating
debris damaged tempered glass - and a builder who feels cheated.
You
are gonna need more than one or two pre-existing scratches in order to
get a waiver signed. Scratches will be there, just look. And attitude "I do
not scratch glass.
Norman L. Winton
Sr.
Vancouver, WA,
USA